By 
The lift sequence in Dirty Dancing emblematizes the exchange within the institution of compulsory heterosexuality. It enacts how women-identified bodies can give into male-identified bodies and be hoisted up and supported confidently.
The dance lift in Dirty Dancing
The dance lift in Dirty Dancing occupies an iconic space within screen dance film history. It symbolically enacts the exchange that occurs within the institution of compulsory heterosexuality, wherein women-identified bodies give into male-identified ones and are hoisted up and supported assuredly. The lift is seen in many audiovisual texts, including the NFL commercial and Crazy, Stupid Love, and reflects on the empty artifice of compulsive heteronormativity.
The lift is also a metaphor for Baby’s transformation into a woman. Her father gives her his blessing, and she enters a more positive relationship with her mother. The final scene of the film is a celebration of this newfound independence.
The film’s popularity led to a 2004 prequel and a stage version that has had sellout performances across the world. The upcoming sequel will continue to center on a coming-of-age romance, but will also explore Baby’s journey as an adult. The movie will be a mashup of genres, featuring everything from ’80s hits to Alanis Morissette and Liz Phair. In addition, it will feature a dance sequence that mirrors the iconic lift in the original film. The film will be released in theaters and on DVD. It is sure to be a hit with fans of the first film. It’s also a great film for families to watch and talk about the different themes in it.
The dance lift in the NFL commercial
When it comes to Super Bowl commercials, few have captured the hearts and imagination of fans quite like the NFL ad starring Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning. Directed by Aaron Stoller of Biscuit Filmworks, the one-minute spot combines a potent mix of comedy and pop culture nostalgia to create a moment that’s sure to go down as one of the most memorable Super Bowl ads of all time.
The ad opens with Manning and Beckham in the team’s practice facility running routes until they break into dance — a dance lifted straight from Dirty Dancing. Immediately, the pair captivates fans with their impressive rendition of the iconic choreography. The pair even recreates the lift that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey performed in the 1987 movie’s climax scene.
During the lift, Beckham echoes the laugh of Grey’s character as she looks back at Manning in a sly nod to the famous moment. He then raises Beckham over his head, just as Swayze did for Grey in the original movie.
The commercial’s final scene depicts a more complicated envisioning of partnering than the fetishized, heteronormative masculine imagery of the film. The lift suggests that despite the gendered power structures of the NFL and the real-life sports world, these players are willing to break out of their shells and embrace femininity for the love of football.
The dance lift in Crazy Stupid Love
The iconic lift sequence in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing has a special place in screen dance history. It represents a moment of movement-to-stillness that legitimizes heterosexual romance as a woman’s great adventure and duty. In addition, it affirms dancing as a masculine activity by virtue of the technical skill displayed by Patrick Swayze’s character. This moment also enacts the exchange of female-identified bodies with male-identified ones, thus confirming hegemonic masculinity and the myth of risk-reward that underlies it.
However, the lift scene in Crazy Stupid Love, like the NFL commercial and Magic Mike, subverts the compulsive heteronormativity of this moment. In this instance, the men do not execute the lift perfectly. This slippage reveals the imprecise nature of their performance and deconstructs the audience’s expected memory of the perfect lift from the original film. Nevertheless, this failure to perform the lift correctly demonstrates that heterosexual partnership is not a mythic exchange of risk-reward.
The lift sequence in this movie is a complex depiction of a heterosexual relationship and highlights the complexity of gender politics in modern relationships. It also illustrates the importance of rethinking stereotypes about gender roles and how we should not be limited to only one type of role. Furthermore, the film is an excellent tool for families to discuss how to create a loving and respectful relationship.
The dance lift in Magic Mike
When the dance staff at Kellerman’s lift Baby after her ensemble performance, it is a moment that emblematizes the exchange within the institution of compulsory heterosexuality. As the dance staff delicately hoists her up, she gives her consent and allows herself to be lifted by a male-identified body. This moment of movement-to-stillness exemplifies the compulsive eroticism that animates the fantasy of heterosexual partnering as it is presented by a society that privileges whiteness as the default norm.
In the first film of the Magic Mike franchise, Channing Tatum’s stripper character takes Adam, aka “The Kid,” under his wing and teaches him the ropes of the business. By the end of the film, however, the masculinist turnabout of Mike’s investment in the Kid leads him to a life of drug dealing and sexual prostitution.
While the first two films of the franchise rely on a makeover trope to present stripping as an elevated art and calling, their narratives inevitably comment on hegemonic masculinity and its assumption of whiteness. The latest film, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, loses the giddy gleefulness of its predecessors and leans into a plot that tries to sell the fantasy of male partnering to a mainstream audience.
Despite the film’s disappointing reviews and its focus on selling the fantasy of male partnering to a white audience, the scene in which Roman teaches Mike to perform the dance lift offers an important moment of critical subversion. This scene reveals the empty artifice of compulsive heteronormativity and dance culture that fetishizes female bodies while undermining the power of their agency as artists and performers.
